Proinsias De Rossa
Ceist:42 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources his proposals for a new licensing round for petroleum exploration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8119/01]
Written Answers. - Offshore Exploration.
There are 21 offshore exploration licences, seven licensing options and ten petroleum prospecting licences in place. This shows a decline from a peak of 32 exploration licences in 1997. Furthermore, a number of exploration companies granted licences under a licensing round in 1997 have indicated their intention to relinquish these licences in 2001.
This year will see a substantial increase in offshore drilling activity with at least three exploration wells, one appraisal well and two development wells being drilled. However, well commitments beyond 2001 amount to only between three and six for the entire Irish offshore. With this in mind I commenced an initiative aimed at both conserving certain areas of the Irish offshore by closing them off from development for the moment and gauging interest on the part of the industry in making well commitments in certain other limited areas. To that end, I have started a consultation process involving companies who are licence holders here in order to gauge their view on whether well commitments might be forthcoming in the event that a limited number of new licences might be offered and this process is ongoing. Any decisions on a new licensing round will be made in the light of that consultation process.
The reality is, however, that Irish prospectivity is low with only three successful exploration wells out of 122 wells in 30 years. The Corrib gas find, although very welcome, cannot be regarded as changing that view. Irish offshore prospectivity is not comparable with, for example, the United Kingdom which has over the same period drilled about 3,000 wells of which about 250 are in production. We are also competing not just with the relatively low risk, highly prospective North Sea but also with current development "hot spots" in North and West Africa, the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and the Caspian region.
Question No. 43 answered with Question No. 35.
Michael D. Higgins
Ceist:44 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources when it is expected that gas from the Corrib gas field is likely to be brought ashore; the information which is available regarding the extent of the find; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8122/01]
Enterprise Energy Ireland expect that gas sales from the Corrib will commence at the earliest by July 2003. The company estimates the field to contain about one thousand million cubic feet of gas or about two-third the size of the Kinsale-Ballycotton fields. Having recently declared the field commercial, Enterprise Energy Ireland has made an application on behalf of itself and its partners Statoil and Marathon for a petroleum lease to develop the field which I expect to grant shortly.
However, any development work leading to the extraction of oil and gas can only take place following my approval of a plan of development and an environmental impact statement which the company is required to submit in accordance with my Department's licensing terms for offshore oil and gas exploration and development.